Mentor, Escort, Babysitters
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: Effie thinks that it'll be fun when she and Haymitch agree to babysit Katniss and Peeta's kids, Lily and Benjy, while their parents go on a picnic. Haymitch thinks otherwise, and so does the kids.
1. In Come the Weird Relatives

**Thank you, God, for everything.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Hunger Games. Here's another one dedicated to my sister. **

"Haymitch, Haymitch, do hurry up!" called Effie hurriedly. "Time waits for no one and neither do I!"

"I'm comin', hold your horses," Haymitch scowled.

Effie scowled as well as she lightly fluffed up her wig and touched up her lipstick with her still-alive-but-steadily-dwindling supply of makeup. Even after all these years, she had been saving her makeup and used it sparingly. Haymitch had gruffly given her a bunch when the Capitol had been plundered. Just because they were just going next door didn't mean she couldn't be pretty. It also didn't mean that Haymitch had to take forever.

Sighing, Effie snapped her lipstick back into her bag and tapped her foot against the ground.

"Haymitch, I told Katniss we'd be there by five-thirty. It is now" - she looked to the clock on the wall that had broken glass protecting it - "five-thirty-one!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming, princess," Haymitch said irritably. He appeared from upstairs, his hair disheveled and his clothes wrinkled but he was mostly sober. That and being present was all that counted at the moment for Effie. "God forbid that we get there a minute later than you intended."

"Thank you, Haymitch," Effie said a little sarcastically as she opened the front door.

"'Cause then the world would come to a screeching halt and we'd all die if your schedule wasn't followed," continued Haymitch.

"Haymitch, really," Effie said as she walked out the door. She held the door open for him and he stumbled out, still saying, "Seriously, though. Wait, one day things will go haywire because of us not listening to Effie's _damn schedule_."

"Haymitch?" Effie said as she shut the door.

"What?" Haymitch said, turning to face her and kicking a goose out of his way at the same time.

"Shut up," she said pleasantly. Smiling, she led the two of them next door to the Mellarks' house.

Effie went up to the door and rapped it with her fist, standing on her tiptoes. After a moment, the door was opened by a dark, brown haired little girl. She looked to be about six-years-old, and her blue eyes looked soft.

"Hello, Lily," Effie said warmly.

"MOM, AUNT EFFIE AND UNCLE HAYMITCH ARE HERE!" the young girl turned and hollered at the top of her lungs.

Effie instantly covered her ears, "Oh, my. What a loud voice."

"Haven't you gotten used to it yet?" Haymitch asked Effie with a scowl on his face.

Effie threw him a look as Katniss came to the door.

"Thanks, Lily," Katniss said a bit wearily as she took the door. Lily smiled and nodded curtly before bouncing back into the house. Katniss sighed and turning back to Effie and Haymitch, "You know, you don't have to."

"But we _want _to," Effie said in a pleading voice. Haymitch let out a snort and Effie cleared her throat and said, "Well, _one _of us wants to."

"Okay, then," Katniss said, and she went and opened the door wider. Effie smiled cheerfully and trotted in; Haymitch rolled his eyes and walked in, shoulders sagging.

"Got any brandy?" was the first thing he asked.

"Haymitch!" Effie said as Katniss closed the door and joined her side.

"We don't have any liquor, Haymitch," said Peeta, who was standing behind the floating island in the kitchen, his straight arms holding his body up, his hands plastered to the island.

"Really wish ya did," Haymitch scowled, and he flopped onto the green sofa in front of the floating island.

"He's enthusiastic," Peeta said with a shrug.

"Yeah," Katniss said, rolling her eyes. She turned to Effie and said, "I'm going to go get the baby."

"Alrighty, then," Effie said, taking a seat next to Haymitch. She turned in her seat and said pleasantly to Peeta, "And where did Lily run off to?"

"She was just here," Peeta said thoughtfully. He stood up straight and began to walk toward the office, calling, "Lily, where are you?"

He disappeared into the office and Haymitch, looking at the coffee table in front of them that held three glasses and a pitcher of water, said, "They should have _some _liquor around here," and he began to stand up.

Effie, realizing that he was about to go search the kitchen, immediately caught his sleeve and said, "Haymitch, there's no liquor! Now, please sit down before you embarrass yourself."

Haymitch let out a loud laugh that sounded a bit like a bark. "Like I haven't done that before, now let go of me, princess."

"Haymitch!" Effie said quickly as he pulled away from his grip. "We're going to be watching little children, and I will not allow you to drink on the job!"

Haymitch, now standing, turned to Effie and pointing a finger at her, said, "Here's the thing, princess. _I _didn't come here to watch some kids. _I _was forced to walk my butt over here to amuse you. _You're _the one who's going to be watching the kids. _I'll_ be raiding the kitchen and counting the moments until I can get back home."

"Haymitch," Effie huffed as he went into the kitchen, "if you didn't come to help me watch, then why did you come at all?"

Haymitch smirked at her as he grabbed a glass out of one of the cupboards. "'Cause you asked me to come, princess."

Effie looked at him a moment. He merely smirked at her before turning back to his alcohol hunt. Effie couldn't help but blush at the compliment as she turned back in her seat. It _was _a compliment, coming from Haymitch. After all, he never complimented anyone much at all, especially her.

She straightened and smiled pleasantly when Katniss came haltingly down the stairs. One of her arms was at her side and the other was supporting a little blonde haired boy at her hip; he had grey eyes and was watching Effie, sucking his thumb.

"Benjy, say hi to Effie," Katniss said, looking from her son's eyes to Effie's face, which had lit up at the sight of the little one-year-old boy. He looked curiously at Effie before burying his face into Katniss's white sleeve.

"Oh, isn't he just darling?" Effie gushed. The kids from the Capitol had always looked like mini adults; all done up in crazy costumes, not even regular clothes. Their faces had been painted and polished and their hair teased and coiled. Here, little Benjy looked perfectly plain compared to them in the best way possible.

"Wanna hold him?" Katniss said, jerking her hip a little to get him into a better position.

"Oh, yes," Effie said excitedly. She leaned back against the sofa and held out her arms. Katniss gently placed the little boy onto Effie's knee where she held onto his little arms.

Effie let out a squeal of excitement and said, "Isn't he adorable?"

"Yeah, he is now, but wait until he starts screaming his head off," said Haymitch from the kitchen.

Effie didn't bother looking at him. Benjy commanded her attention a bit more by just sitting there, looking at her with wide eyes as he sucked his thumb. After a moment, he made a grab for her thumb. She didn't even realize what he was doing until he put it into his mouth.

"Benjy!" she said, gently jerking it away. The baby looked back up to her with wide eyes and she could swear she heard Haymitch laughing.

"Here's Lily," and Effie turned to see Peeta coming in, Lily running toward her in front of him.

"Hi again," Lily said to Effie, settling into a seat next to Benjy. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course," Effie said, gently placing the baby onto Lily's lap. The ex-Capitol lady wiped her wet thumb on the sofa hastily before looking up to Katniss and Peeta, the former leaning against the wall near the door, the latter next to her, holding a woven basket.

"You sure that you don't mind doing this?" Katniss said, her arms folded over her white shirt, a dark brown sensible sort of bag hanging off of her shoulder.

"Oh, we don't mind at all," Effie said pleasantly, sneaking a quick look at her godchildren. She looked back up to the two parents and said brightly (and loudly), "Right, Haymitch?"

"Sure, whatever," came from the kitchen, and Katniss and Peeta exchanged a look.

Effie smiled harder at his response and said, "You two go enjoy yourselves. _I'll _make sure that the children get taken care of."

"Okay," Peeta said, "well, we'll be back by nine, then."

"Yeah, there's dinner in the oven, and if the baby doesn't eat anything, that's okay. He likes bread and goat's milk. There's bottles ready for him. Um," Katniss let out a breath, "Lily goes to bed at eight-thirty, you can keep the baby up. He has a weird schedule and he lets us know it."

"Don't let Lily tell you that she can do something that we wouldn't let her do," Peeta said, throwing Lily raised eyebrows. Lily occupied herself with playing with Benjy's fingers.

"Don't let Benjy eat paint; Lily can paint but don't let her do it on the walls." Katniss sighed before turning to Peeta and saying, "Maybe we should stay home."

Effie looked at the baby and Lily but heard Peeta say, "Katniss, they'll be fine. A picnic with just the two of us will do us both good."

"Peeta. . ."

"Yes?"

"Ugh, fine."

"Is there anything else you want to let us know, sweetheart?" Effie turned to see Haymitch leaning over her, a cup of something in his hand.

Katniss rolled her eyes at his endearment and shrugging her bag's handle into a better position on her shoulder, said, "No, that's it. Just don't burn the house."

For some reason, Effie thought that that was something Haymitch might do. He just shrugged, rolled his eyes and followed Peeta and Katniss to the door. He kept the door open for them, taking big gulps out of his cup.

"See ya, Haymitch," Peeta said. He smiled and looking to the sofa, said, "Bye Lils, bye Ben, bye Effie!"

"See you soon, Peeta," Effie said brightly.

"Bye Daddy," Lily said before turning her attention back to her baby brother.

Peeta nodded and went out the door. Katniss said, "Bye Lily, bye Benjy. Effie, take care of them."

"I will," Effie nodded. They were just children, they shouldn't be that hard to take care of. Right?

Katniss nodded and turned to face Haymitch, who had dabs of grey hair in his coarse hair.

"Don't do anything stupid," she said to him through gritted teeth.

"Will do, sweetheart," Haymitch said, and Katniss turned and followed Peeta out the door.

Haymitch waited until they left the front yard before closing the door and walking to the other three.

"We're going to have _such_ a good time," Effie said excitedly, her hands clasped together.

Haymitch let out a barking laugh as he sunk into a chair that had the back to the wall. "Naw, we won't."

"Why ever can we not?" Effie wanted to know.

Haymitch hiccuped and pointed to the two kids. Effie turned to see the two smiling and Lily talking baby talk to Benjy. They looked perfectly adorable and lovely. What ever did Haymitch mean by them not making them have a good time?

**I originally thought that this would be a one-shot, but hang that idea! Anyhoo, I hope you liked it, and please review!**


	2. The Actual Dirty Work of Babysitting

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Hunger Games. Yay, more Uncy Haymitch and Auntie Effie!**

Effie decided to ignore Haymitch and turned to the two Mellark children. Smiling a pleasant smile, she bent down slightly and said, "Now, what would you like to do before dinner?"

Haymitch groaned and leaned back in his chair and Effie ignored him, still smiling at Lily.

Lily looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging and saying, "I dunno."

"You DON'T know, Lily dear," said Effie. She had a sort of habit of always speaking with proper words and such and had put it upon herself to make sure that her little godchildren didn't say words like 'dunno' or 'gonna' or anything of that sort.

"I don't know that?" said Lily innocently, cocking her head to the side in puzzlement. Benjy looked up at his older sister and then to Effie with wide eyes, almost looking like he himself wanted an explanation too.

Effie blinked and said slowly, "You have to say 'I don't know,' not 'I dunno.'"

"Why?" asked Lily.

"Because it's the proper way to speak," said Effie matter-of-factly.

Haymitch let out a groan and said, "For pete's sake, princess, let the kid talk the way she wants to!"

Effie turned her head and frowned at Haymitch. "If we let everyone talk the way they want to, these poor dears would have learned every curse word in the world from you, Haymitch Abernathy."

"They'll learn them at one point," pointed out Haymitch.

"But not at these ages," said Effie, and she turned as if she had settled the matter. She cleared her throat and clasping her hands, said in a gentle voice, "Now, Lily, are sure that there isn't anything at all you would like to do?"

Lily looked at Effie for a moment before straightening excitedly and saying, "Can we go play in the creek?"

It took Effie a moment to realize that the creek that the little girl was talking about was beyond the place where the fence had once been, out in the woods. Effie had only been in the woods a couple of times, and she did not like going and getting dirty nor going in with just Haymitch to help with the two children.

"Let's not do that today, Lily. Is there anything we can do around the house?" Effie asked.

"We can bake something. I really like baking. Daddy and I baked cookies for after supper," said Lily with a smile.

Effie let out a bit of a nervous laugh before saying, "I-I'm not too good at baking."

"I can teach you," pointed out Lily.

"Don't even try, kid," said Haymitch, "she's unteachable. She'll burn everything."

Effie threw Haymitch a look and Lily said, "Then how do you two eat?"

"With incredible difficulty," said Haymitch.

"Haymitch!" said Effie. She did not like being criticized, especially in front of her little godchildren. She looked around the small living room hurriedly and found a green pillow that went with the sofa on the floor. She quickly picked it up with two fingers and tossed it at Haymitch, who flicked it away.

"That all you got, princess?"

Lily giggled as Effie, smiling, said, "Not at all."

At that, Benjy let out a gurgle and Lily immediately wrinkled her nose.

"He smells now," she said.

Effie blinked and said, "Excuse me?"

"You have to change him," and Lily wrapped her small hands around her little brother and prepared to lift him and place him on Effie's lap. Effie, not trusting the six-year-old, quickly scooped him up and held him on her lap.

"What did you mean by that?" Effie asked nervously.

"Oh, for pete's sake, princess," groaned Haymitch, sitting up slightly. He moped his face with one of his hands before muttering, "You need to change the kid's diaper."

Lily giggled and Effie threw Haymitch a look. She was not sure how to go about doing such a thing; she had never spent much time with little babies (children 12 through 18, mostly, of course), and every time she had attended a party in the Capitol with friends who had little children, they always took care of the little children in another room or had the Avoxes take care of them.

Now, with no other mothers or Avoxes around, Effie was not sure what to do.

"How - Haymitch, would you be a dear and do it? It is a boy, after all," said Effie quickly.

Haymitch wrinkled his nose, "I'm not taking care of the kid. Remember, it was your idea to come over here, princess. It's your job to take care of the kids, not mine."

"Haymitch!" Effie shrieked, making Benjy look like he wanted to cry.

"Yes?" said Haymitch in a gruff fake sing-songy voice.

Effie looked at him and huffed before saying, "Never mind!" She sighed and looked down at the baby. He was sitting upright and sucking his thumb, not knowing exactly how much trouble he was causing for her.

Lily reached over and grabbed Effie's sleeve and pulled it to get her attention.

"I can help you," she said with a smile, "I've watched Mom do it on occasion."

Well, relying on a six-year-old was not all that helpful, but it was the best Effie had to work with.

"Alright," she said in a bit of a defeated voice, "where to?"

"The nursery," said Lily matter-of-factly, leaping to her feet. She quickly ran around the couch, under the kitchen table which was set with plates, cups and silverware and napkins (bless Peeta) and ran up the stairs, two at a time.

Effie sighed and managed to get to her feet. Not knowing how to hold him exactly, she held him at her hip lightly so that he was not clutching her. Turning to face Haymitch, she patted her wig back into place and said, "We'll be a minute."

To her annoyance, Haymitch merely nodded and giving them a wave, said, "Have fun, princess."

With a huff, Effie turned away and as she walked around the sofa, "Why do I put up with you?"

"Dunno," she heard Haymitch say as she rounded the kitchen table.

Effie groaned and carefully went up the steps, making sure that she didn't trip. She had a baby in her hands and her wig was already threatening to slip at any moment.

At the last couple of steps, Lily popped her head around a corner and said, "You comin'?"

"I'm right here, Lily dear," said Effie with a quick smile as she came to the hall.

"Well, DO hurry up," said Lily, "I found a puzzle in my room we can build later."

"You found a puzzle already?" said Effie, surprised that the girl was able to locate something by the time it took her to get up to the second floor.

Lily cocked her head and gave Effie a curt nod, "I'm fast."

"I can tell," said Effie as the little girl whipped back into the nursery. Effie stepped into the room and looked around. It was not the first time she had been in here; she had often come up to fetch Benjy when she and Haymitch came over for dinner. There was a blue crib that was like a small bed with high walls. Under it was a tiny cradle.

The walls were baby blue with orange suns and green trees. There was a little table set up as the changing table and there was a little dresser all painted with birds and leaves, like the woods.

Effie headed over to the changing table. She gently placed Benjy onto the table while Lily watched from a footstool near one of the open windows.

Effie backed away a foot and put a finger to her lips in thought. What do exactly do now . . . .

"Need some help?" Lily asked, her little legs swinging from the footstool.

"Maybe, but I'm SURE that I'll figure it out," said Effie quietly, tipping her head. To her amusement, Benjy, still sucking his thumb, tipped his head as well, his big grey eyes looking back at her.

A minute passed and Lily said, "Mom's usually done by now."

"Your mother has had a lot of experience taking care of little children, Lily," said Effie quietly, "I'll still an amateur."

"You don't play with many kids besides us, huh, Aunty Effie?" said Lily.

"Not many," Effie admitted. While most kids were adorable, she usually stayed away from them. She enjoyed playing with her godchildren, though, because Lily was very polite and Benjy was a baby with Katniss usually around to take care of him.

She wished Katniss was here now, though. She wasn't sure what to do.

"Want me to do it?" said Lily with a bit of annoyance in her voice, making her sound like she could but not want to.

Effie sighed and said, "I would be pleased if you did, dearest."

Lily sighed and skipped off of her stool and gently pushed Effie out of the way. Effie coolly stood back and let Lily, who was very experienced in being an older sister, set her brother back up.

"I didn't know you could do that," breathed Effie as Lily slipped Benjy's white pants back on. Lily smiled as she lifted Benjy off of the changing table and placed him on his small hip. "You're only six!"

"It's not that hard," said Lily matter-of-factly, "I'm good at taking care of babies; Mommy said so."

"I think she was quite right," said Effie, bending slightly to meet the little girl's eyes. Lily smiled back and then looking back to Benjy, her smile faded and she said curtly, "He's hungry."

Effie was not prepared for this turn of events.

"How-how do you know that?" she asked, looking at the baby, who was staring back at her with those piercing grey eyes.

"He's eating his thumb," said Lily, "he usually just sucks it, but when he's hungry, he tries to eat it, and oh" - he began to whimper and turned back to Lily, letting out small cries - "that's a sign he's hungry, too. Usually he tries to eat his fist; he's been switching it around a little lately."

"Oh, alright," Effie said, a little concerned and a little confused. She had never been hands on like this before, and she felt a little foolish that Lily knew so much while she knew so little.

Katniss had told her that there was bottles ready for him. She decided that it was right about time for dinner for herself and Lily and Haymitch anyways.

"Let's take him downstairs and get him a bottle," said Effie, and she bent down so that Lily could give her him to take down the stairs.

"Is it dinnertime yet?" Lily wanted to know as Effie straightened and gently put Benjy on her hip. "I'm hungry."

"Yes," Effie said, fluffing her wig, "yes, I believe so."

Lily grinned brightly and said, "Brilliant," and she zoomed out of the room.

Effie called as she came to the door, "No running, Lily dear!"

She stepped out into the hall in time to hear Haymitch yell, "Let the kid run, princess!"

Effie sighed. Despite her not knowing much about dealing with children, she was sure that Haymitch probably had less experience than she did to let kids run around wherever they wanted to.

She hurried down the stairs, jostling Benjy, making him whimper a bit more. She emerged in the kitchen and looked around. Her mouth dropped open when she saw that Lily was fitting on small oven mitts, looking at ease and eying the oven.

"Lily, don't do that! You'll burn yourself for sure!" said Effie hurriedly, walking in her stilted steps toward the girl.

Lily pouted and shoved the mitts off, saying, "Daddy lets me take stuff out." She continued looking annoyed with Effie as she walked over to the green sofa.

"You could easily get burned!" said Effie.

Lily ignored her and leaning over the sofa, tipped her head to the side and said, "Hey, Uncy Haymitch, can't I take stuff out of the oven?"

"Your father let you do that?" Haymitch asked through closed eyes.

Lily nodded and noticing that he couldn't see her, said, "Yeah."

"Be my guest," said Haymitch.

"Haymitch!" said Effie as she crossed over to the kitchen table. She scanned over the table and noticed a little chair that looked different than the others. She had seen Katniss and Peeta sit Benjy and Lily in there (well, at least Lily when she was smaller), so she decided to put the baby there. She carefully set him in, saying over her shoulder, "Do not be encouraging her! I will not let one of my godchildren get burned!"

Haymitch humphed and said, "Well, then how the hell are we supposed to eat if the food's stuck in the oven?"

"Haymitch! THE CURSING!" Effie said in a warning voice. She sighed and composing herself, said, "Would you fetch it please?"

"No," said Haymitch.

"Haymitch, please, I'm getting Benjy's bottle," said Effie, heading into the kitchen area where there was three bottles lined up. Lily wrinkled her nose and said, "He likes it when you hold him when you feed him."

"I can't at the moment, Lily," said Effie. She looked over the bottles carefully. Was there a particular one that she had to choose or could she just choose a random one and he would be fine?

"Don't forget to heat it," said Lily.

"What?" said Effie. Back in the Capitol, they had formula, none of this goat's milk. She didn't know that she had to heat it up and she didn't know how to heat it up. "How?"

"Let me do it," said Lily, "or will I burn myself?"

Effie sighed and said, "Well, if you must."

Lily smiled and started to put together a bottle.

Effie sighed and looked around. There was a pitcher of water ready to be poured into the glasses on the table. She walked over to the floating island and grasped the handle on the pitcher and went over to the table.

Benjy let out a cry as she began to pour the water.

"Haymitch, can you PLEASE get the food out of the oven?" she said, looking over to the easy chair where Haymitch was slouching.

To her surprise, he sat up, groaning, and got out of the easy chair. He went and grabbed a pair of oven mitts that Peeta had left out, fished into the oven and pulled out a casserole.

"Happy now, princess?" he said gruffly as he carried it over to the table and set it on a pot holder.

"Yes," said Effie with a smile.

Haymitch grunted and slid into the chair that was at the head of the table.

Lily raised her eyebrows and giggled at the two as she set a plate of sliced bread on the table with one hand and handed the bottle she had heated that was in her other hand to Effie.

"Thank you, Lily," Effie said warmly, and she gently sat down in her chair at the foot of the table.

"'Thank you, Haymitch,'" muttered Haymitch.

Effie gave Haymitch a look as Lily clasped her little hands together. She nodded for Effie to do the same, who nodded for Haymitch to do it also.

"Dear God, thank you for this food, amen," said Lily. Smiling, she unclasped her hands and said, "I say that every night."

"Very nice," said Effie warmly. She turned to Haymitch and said, "Help Lily, Haymitch."

Haymitch wrinkled his nose but obliged by taking the mitt he had left on the table and lifting the casserole dish covering. It was a dish with rabbit and grain and spinach.

"I don't like spinach," said Lily, wrinkling her nose.

"I don't really care. Just eat it," said Haymitch, spooning some onto her plate.

Effie raised an eyebrow and offered the bottle to Benjy. He looked at it and made a grab for it. She let him have it and he sank back in his little chair, drinking from the top.

"Do I have to hold it for him?" Effie wanted to know, looking a bit worried that she was handling the feeding part of the babysitting wrong.

"Naw, he can hold it by himself," said Lily as she began to cut up her meat.

They ate in silence for a moment before Haymitch said quietly, "Can you pass the jam?"

Effie did a quick survey of the table and sitting back down, said, "There's no jam on the table, Haymitch."

At this, Haymitch groaned, and standing up, he moved past the table and to the cupboards, muttering something about "why the hell do the kids not have any jam on the table. . ."

Effie merely smiled and let the language slip for this one time.

**Yes, I live with a lot of children, and it is physically possible for young children to change a diaper. Deal with it. I hope you liked it, and please, let me know your thoughts!**


	3. Cookies, Plates, and Paternal Haymitch

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Hunger Games. Here we are, let's go on with more Uncy Haymitch and Auntie Effie. **

Effie was quite proud of how dinner went. Benjy was calm and quiet. Haymitch, after finding the jam, proceeded to drown his bread with it, making Lily look at him suspiciously and ask him if he wanted some bread with his jam.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and said, "Instead of watching me put food on my food, how 'bout you stop complaining and eat your spinach?"

Lily slouched in her seat and used her fork to poke at the dark green mass on her plate. "I don't LIKE spinach."

Haymitch sighed and shifted in his seat as he turned to his goddaughter. "Hey, kid, if we had spinach when I was your age, we didn't care if we didn't like it." He turned back to his food and said, annoyed, "We would have eaten it, damn it."

"Haymitch, you must control your language!" said Effie, looking at him indignantly. She looked to Lily and said sweetly, "Lily, you must hurry and finish eating your spinach or you won't get your dessert!"

"Can I eat dessert and then eat my spinach?" Lily wanted to know.

"No, and eat your spinach now before I eat your dessert," said Haymitch.

Lily sighed and brooded while Effie stood up, wiping her face with her napkin, and proceeded to clean the table. She took the food and stuck them into the fridge, for she was not sure exactly what to do with them. She put the dirty dishes into the sink.

When she went to take Haymitch's dirty plate, he protested as she took it.

"I wasn't done, princess," he growled.

"Haymitch, you were, and I need to get the table cleared," said Effie. She gulped and looked a little faint as she said, "Wouldn't want Katniss and Peeta to come home to a dirty house, now do you?"

Lily looked up from her plate and took it and followed Effie. Effie looked down to her and said excitedly, "You ate your spinach, Lily?"

"Kind of. It's gone now," said Lily as she slipped her plate into the sink before she skipped away, leaving a confused looking Effie Trinket.

Haymitch sighed and smirked and took a sip of his drink before he said, "She's a smart one."

"Where did the spinach go?" wondered Effie, making her way past the floating island to Benjy. She gave Haymitch a look as she gently lifted Benjy out of his seat and had him against her hip.

Haymitch looked at the ground, making Effie's eyes widen as she did the same. A large cat made a big yawn and walked up the stairs, its orange tail swinging behind it. It was Buttercup the Third, the offspring of the original horrid Buttercup.

Effie gasped and turned to Lily and said, "You fed the cat your spinach?"

Lily turned back to Effie, a plate of chewy cookies in her hands. "He liked it." She walked over to Effie and holding up the plate, said, "Cookie?"

Effie knew that she should not allow the little girl to have any cookies when she did not finish her food, but her cute face and the fact that she already had a half eaten cookie in her hand changed her mind. The ex-Capitol lady sighed and took two cookies, one small one for Benjy and one for her.

Lily nodded and moved past her. Effie turned, and handed Benjy the smaller sugar cookie. He looked at it strangely for a moment, as if it would hurt him, and Effie smiled and said encouragingly, "Take it."

He finally did take it and stuck nearly the whole thing into his mouth, making Effie stop him. She carefully moved his hand around so that he was sucking on it. She nodded and turned to the table, where Haymitch and Lily were fairly gorging themselves on cookies.

Haymitch looked controlled, just taking a couple and dipping them into his drink, but Lily looked like she was getting a little queasy. She was leaning against her chair, her hand at her face, ready to give her mouth access to the delicious cookie whenever she felt like nibbling on it.

"No more for either of you," said Effie disapprovingly. They unfortunately did not have any of the throwing up juice, which might have helped little Lily and her evident stomachache.

"Make me stop," said Haymitch frustratingly as he reached for another.

Effie quickly walked, her heels clattering, over to the plate and snatched it away. Haymitch threw her a look before he settled back to his drink. Lily barely noticed as Effie walked quickly to the counter and put the plate under a lid.

She hurried back to Haymitch and Lily and quickly almost dumped the baby onto Haymitch's lap, making him look up at Effie.

"What are you doing?" he demanded as she hurried away, beckoning Lily to follow her.

"Lily and I are going to do the dishes. You shall watch Benjy and play with him while we do so," Effie told her sweetly before she turned away and began to take off the rings she wore and her fake nails. She certainly did not need her dwindling supply of pretty things ruined by something as common as dishwater.

She turned to Lily and said, "I'll wash and you dry?"

The girl nodded lazily as Haymitch yelled, "What am I supposed to do with him?"

Effie turned to him and said sharply, "No yelling, Haymitch. Manners!"

Haymitch rolled his eyes and said in his normal voice, "What am I supposed to do with him?"

"Play teddy bears or something," said Effie before turning back to the sink. Lily turned to Haymitch and said quietly, "He likes it when Daddy pretends to be a bear or a big cat. He laughs a lot."

Effie began to wash at the dishes. She was proud to say that after years and years of living in District 12, she had gotten rather good at washing dishes. She heard Haymitch's grumbling quiet in the background as she handed the perfectly clean dishes to Lily, who yawned and wiped at them and stacked them along the counter.

Effie smiled brightly and wiped at the dishes with a sponge. Even if the water made her hands all wrinkly and such, she knew that her perfect dishes would make up for it. She handed another one to Lily, who was yawning and didn't catch the plate quite fast enough, and it fell to the floor, making a loud crash as it fell against the tiles.

Both were immediately sent out of their reverie. Lily's eyes widened as she bent down and began to gather the pieces of the plate. Effie gasped and dried her hands on a towel as she bent down as well, fretting as she said, "Don't cut your hands, Lily!"

"I'm not going to cut my hands, Aunt Effie," said Lily quietly as she stacked up the plate pieces and put them in Effie's towel. Effie shifted it and lifted the corners, and they both stood up, looking at each other, each a little horrified.

"We have some glue," said Lily quietly as they looked at the mess in the towel.

"Well," Effie breathed, looking fairly alarmed, "how about you go get that and we'll go to the living room and see if we can fix it?"

Lily said, "Okay," and darted up the stairs.

Effie gulped, and feeling ruffled, took the towel and carried it to the coffee table in the living room. She stopped at the back of the couch, however, and watched the scene in front of her. Was Haymitch Abernathy actually pretending to be a bear or was she imagining?

Baby Benjy was sitting on his blanket and giggling his heart out as Haymitch held a teddy bear in front of him, saying, "The bear is going to eat you. Rawr!" and the teddy bear darted forward and snuggled against Benjy, making him laugh harder.

Effie hid a smile as she sank into the green sofa, set the towel on the table and watched the two. Haymitch looked a bit strange, being in his sixties and known for being a gruff alcoholic, but he seemed almost grandfatherly toward the little boy. Gruff, but a softer Haymitch than there had been before the children.

Lily ruined it when she came running down the stairs and stopped short to look at Haymitch and Benjy. She cocked her head to the side and said, "That's not how Dad plays Bear with him."

Haymitch let out a loud sigh and turned to her and said, "This is how I do it."

"Dad chases him and growls," said Lily as she joined Effie on the sofa. Haymitch noticed Effie properly and swore under his breath as he stood up and tossed the teddy bear to the baby as he sank into a chair.

"Oh, please continue, Haymitch," said Effie sweetly as Lily placed the glue on the table.

"Oh, please shut up, princess," Haymitch said, annoyed, though his eyes never left the little boy, who was starting to play with a bunch of blocks on the floor.

Effie smiled, her lips pursed, and turned to Lily, who looked a bit bewildered.

"Shall we fix this, then?" said Effie.

"Yes, please," said Lily, and Effie, fluffing up her wig, said, "Alrighty then," and they turned to the towel. Effie daintily unfolded the towel and Lily slid to the floor, kneeling in front of the coffee table.

"It's like a puzzle," the little girl mussed, picking up pieces. Fortunately, there was not too many tiny little chips of glasses. It was mostly in big and quarter size pieces. "We just need to somehow fit them together before we glue them." She looked up to Effie and said, "I'm quite good at puzzles, you know."

"That's quite excellent," said Effie as Lily turned back to the pieces of glass, fitting them around. She leaned forward and said, "Let's see if we can figure this out."

It took them some time. There was a great many pieces, and every one had to be spun and smashed against another and reformed until they were perfect and then Lily let one slip under the sofa and they had to move the sofa. She successfully found it, however, leaving Effie quite shaken as the girl went calmly back to the plate.

At one point, Benjy began to whimper, but when Effie looked up, he was gone from his spot on his blanket. She looked around quickly, and finally her eyes fell on the sight of Haymitch sitting in his reclining seat, shifting back and forth to calm down the little baby. Benjy looked quite content while Haymitch was looking annoyed and borderline uncomfortable.

Effie smiled and bent back to Lily, pretending that she hadn't looked at him, for his sake.

After about forty minutes, they had nearly the entire plate put back together again. There was a chip on the bottom missing, but Effie was sure that neither Katniss nor Peeta cared about a chip missing from the bottom of the plate.

The gluing had been the hard part. The dish had been wet when it fell to the floor and the glue was resisting. Lily blew on it hard and finally, they had the plate back together again.

Effie let out a sigh of relief and said calmly, "Now, can you go put that back in the cupboard?"

"I'm not going to break it again, if that's what you're saying," said Lily as she stood up. She nodded, though, and quickly ran into the kitchen.

Effie sighed and stood up carefully, looking at Haymitch and Benjy. The little baby was sucking his thumb, and his eyes were drooping. Haymitch looked exactly the same as he had forty minutes ago.

"I can take him now," said Effie, and Haymitch quickly handed the baby to her.

Effie smiled as Benjy leaned against her shoulder, closing his eyes.

"Oh, isn't he precious!" she said.

"Yeah, a real joy," said Haymitch gruffly.

Effie smirked at him as she said, turning, "You're making quite a good godfather, Haymitch."

He rolled his eyes as she turned and said, "I'm going to go set him down for a nap. Katniss will know what to do with him when she gets home."

She headed up the stairs as Lily ran to Haymitch in the living room. Once up in the nursery, she gently laid down Benjy in his cradle, sure that was what she was supposed to do. Looking warily at the open window, she put a blanket over him and placed a stuffed rabbit next to him.

"Well," she said quietly to herself as she headed out of the room, "that went quite well."

She closed the door just as Benjy let out a cry. She sighed and walked back in.

**Haymitch can be paternal when he wants to, though he won't admit it. HE HE HE. Thankies for reading, and please, let me know what you think!**


	4. Katniss and Peeta are Back

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Hunger Games. Here's the final chapter, guys! Thanks for reading!**

Effie was not sure exactly what to do with a crying baby. Ever since she retrieved him from his cradle, Benjy would not stop crying. Effie had wrapped him in a blanket and had managed to give him another bottle. Neither went over well, for he threw them to the floor. The teddy bear did not work magic like it did with Haymitch, and he refused another cookie as he wailed.

The ex-Capitol lady pursed her lips and just tried to walk around with him, hoping that he just didn't like standing still. She wasn't sure what to do, and Haymitch and Lily, who were both sitting around the coffee table playing some sort of game of cards, were not helpful.

"Your turn, Uncle Haymitch," said Lily, looking intently at her cards.

"What are you playing?" Effie said loudly, looking over Lily's shoulder.

"Poker," Lily said nonchalantly as she switched out three cards from her hand for those on top of the deck.

Effie looked quickly at Haymitch, who was rearranging his cards, and said quickly, "You're teaching her how to play Poker? Haymitch!"

"She's good at it," Haymitch replied, switching out four cards for four on top of the deck. "See that, Lily? You can only do that when you have an ace."

Lily nodded understandingly as Effie huffed and said over Benjy's wailing, "Haymitch!"

Haymitch ignored her as he and Lily played out their game. Effie pursed her lips and flounced away. Back in the Capitol when the citizens played poker, it was a big, crazy game where there was betting and drinking and cursing and all sorts of things that Effie knew was not for her little goddaughter. There was nothing she could do about it, though, for Haymitch was merely playing a game of cards with her, and there was no alcohol or money anywhere around them.

Effie turned to Benjy, who was still crying, and said, "Oh, dear, what do you want?"

Benjy could not say anything, being a baby, and instead screamed.

Effie frowned as she hurried over to his blanket and blocks and bear and placed him amongst them. He still cried as she squatted, looking lost as to what to do with the little baby. She was not sure what Katniss or Peeta would do. Whenever she and Haymitch came over here and Benjy cried, Katniss or Peeta would always take him into another room, or pat him on his back and whisper something to him.

What did they whisper to him, though? Something like "Shhh, and I'll get you a teddy bear?" or something?

Effie cleared her throat and bent forward to the baby. She must not yell at him, she knew. She had to be reserved, for he was only a little child that didn't know any better about crying for no reason.

"Benjy, dear, can you please be quiet?" Effie asked him.

He only cried, looking somewhat depressed despite his bright blond hair.

"Does he need his diaper changed?" asked Lily from the table.

"No," said Effie, for she would have immediately taken him to Lily if he had. She pursed her lips and said, looking over her shoulder, "Haymitch, what time is it?"

"Eight fifteen," said Haymitch before looking back to his cards.

"Oh, Lily," Effie said as she scooped up the crying baby, turning to the two playing cards. She took in a sigh of relief, knowing that Katniss and Peeta would be back soon and they'd be able to take care of the crying baby. "It's time to get ready to go to bed!"

"Just wait until this game is finished," said Lily. She didn't look from her cards as she added, "Uncle Haymitch, can I go out and see the fireflies before I go to bed?"

"Don't see why not," said Haymitch.

Effie sighed and said, "But Lily, you must go take a bath!"

"Mom says I don't need a bath everyday, and I had one yesterday. She said that she had only once or twice a month when she grew up," said Lily, revealing her hand. "Two pair."

"Just because both cards are hearts doesn't mean that they're a pair," Haymitch said. He laid down a full house and said, "Doesn't matter. I win."

Lily groaned as she leaned back against the sofa. Effie smiled as Haymitch stood up. She turned to him and said, "Would you please take Benjy while I help Lily get into her pajamas?"

Haymitch rolled his eyes and took the baby. Effie, as soon as her hands were free, fluffed up her wig and blew out a sigh of relief as she turned to Lily and said, "Come on, Lily. Let's get you to your pajamas. We must remain on schedule!"

"You and your damn schedule," Haymitch muttered as he went into the kitchen, Benjy crying over his shoulder. "Shut up, kid."

"Haymitch! Do not yell at the baby!" Effie told him severely before she turned to Lily. Smiling, she bent and said, "Come now, Lily."

Lily had her arms folded and she let out a grumble as she stood up and headed to the stairs. Effie followed her and they made it to her room.

Effie glanced at the clock as Lily went to her dresser. Clapping her hands, she said, "It's eight twenty!"

Lily threw a short sleeve nightgown on her bed along with a pair of bed shorts. Effie frowned and said, "Lily, we must not toss our clothes onto our bed. It's not ladylike."

"So?" said Lily as she began to tug off her shirt. Effie quickly turned and said, "It's not a way to treat clothes." She couldn't help but remember all the times that she did that and her corsets would get ruined, or her new party dress would get wrinkled and she had to wear something that everyone had already seen her in to a party. That was one of the most humiliating things that had ever happened to her!

"Why not? They're durable," Lily said. Effie shuddered at the thought.

After a moment of shuffling clothes, Lily called, "I'm dressed." Effie turned to her, her heel clattering, to Lily. The little girl put her hands behind her back and said innocently, "Can I go see the fireflies now?"

Effie glanced at the wall clock and shifted uneasily on her heels. Her hands clasped together as she said, "But-but it's getting terribly late! You have to be in bed before your parents come. We must follow the schedule, Lily!"

"But I want to see the fireflies," said Lily sourly. "Mom says that they only come out for a few weeks a year, and I haven't been out to see them yet." She shifted slightly as she said pleadingly, "PLEASE, Aunt Effie?"

"I . . . . suppose . . ." Effie found herself saying after a moment.

Lily smiled and said, "Thanks, Aunt Effie," and rushed past her, nearly sending her into her closet.

"Goodness!" said Effie as she quickly regained her footing. She fanned herself with her hand to recover as she slowly moved out of the room. She needed to get outside, for she did not want Lily out there all by herself when she was under her watch.

With her hands balled up and her feet on her tiptoes in her usual walking fashion, Effie made her way carefully down the stairs. She frowned when she came down to see that all the lights except for a small light in the kitchen were out.

In the darkness she could locate no one. She didn't hear Haymitch or Benjy, and she hoped that the old mentor was out with both of the children. Still, in the dark, she couldn't help but whisper loudly, "Haymitch? Benjy? Lily?"

She hurried as fast as her nerves and heeled feet could get her to the front door. Her hand reached out and opened the door, and she quickly walked onto the lighted front porch.

Before her early dark was coming. The sun had gone down and the earth was a sort of dark color that still seemed to light the front yard. Ahead of her in the quiet darkness was Lily, walking around carefully. She was behind a glowing, flying light, and Effie could only wonder what the child wanted a firefly for.

"You going to sit down, princess?" Effie looked down to see that Haymitch was sitting on one of the porch steps.

She quickly and stiffly sat down next to him, still carrying a bit of Capitol reserve.

She looked to him and said, searching him quickly, "Where is the baby?"

Haymitch pointed ahead. Benjy was slowly walking to his sister, who was holding out her hands excitedly, about to close in around a firefly.

"Haymitch!" Effie said quickly, and she quickly stood up, but before she could move, Haymitch grabbed her wrist.

"Princess, relax. He's fine," said Haymitch. Effie looked at him for a moment. He looked sincere as he said, "Sit down."

Automatically, without really thinking, Effie did what he said. She sat back on the porch step and shifted for a second to get comfortable.

She cleared her throat as she watched Lily bend down to show Benjy the firefly she caught. Though she wasn't sure she was quite the best at it, Effie felt like she should be out there, guarding the children.

Whilst Effie had never grown attached to any of the kids during her years as escort for District 12, she had grown quite attached to Lily and Benjy. Since she had been pronounced their godmother, she had considered herself one to protect them.

Seeing them just standing out a few yards away in the dim dark was quite unsettling to her, but she knew that Haymitch had a bit of a point, so she sat still.

They sat there for a few minutes, watching the two kids run about, trying to catch the glowing bugs. At one point, Benjy was handed one by Lily and almost ate it. Effie almost stood up to stop him before Haymitch yelled, "Benjy, kid, that's nasty. Don't eat it."

Lily noticed and made him stop. Effie sat back down and looked at Haymitch.

"You know, Haymitch," she said, "you're not as quite as gruff as everyone thinks you are."

"Why does everyone think I'm gruff, princess?" Haymitch asked.

"Well . . . um . . ." Effie said, not ready for that. "You're . . . . sarcastic."

"So is Katniss. Saying she's gruff?" Haymitch said, pointing to the two kids who were giggling.

"Well, no . . ." Effie said quietly. Katniss did yell at her time to time, but she always apologized. She also had two sweet little children that were not gruff at all. "Well, you drink too much."

"Noticed? Yeah, sue me," Haymitch said. He sighed and said, "When are the kids getting back? I need a drink."

"Well, I'm sure they'll be back soon," Effie said quickly. "Did they say they'd be back before Lily went to bed or after? Oh, goodness!" Effie became flustered as she stood up and said, "Lily needed to get to bed at eight thirty, where has the time gone?"

She turned to Lily and was about to call her in with Benjy but before she could, she heard the little girl yell, "Mom! Daddy!"

Effie could only assume that Peeta and Katniss were at the gate and she hurried to Benjy so that he wasn't unsupervised.

"Come along now, your parents are here," Effie said as she gently picked up the child. He squirmed in her grasp as she headed back to the house where everyone else was going to.

Effie bent down to Haymitch as Lily walked ahead with Peeta and Katniss. He was still sitting on the porch step.

"Come along, Haymitch," Effie said quickly, still anxious over how Lily had not gotten to bed.

"I'll be there in a minute, princess," Haymitch said, and Effie pursed her lips and hurried into the house.

Katniss had turned on lights as she put the picnic blanket on the counter. Peeta had scooped up Lily and was holding her, even though she was getting big.

Effie hurried over to Katniss, who was starting to unload the picnic basket, setting knives and blankets down, and said, "Oh, Katniss, I'm terribly sorry about not getting Lily to bed. She wanted to go see the fireflies and-"

"It's okay, Effie," Katniss said wearily as she turned to her. Benjy whimpered and Katniss quickly held out her hands and took him into her arms, leaning her head against his. "She's fine."

"Well, I feel perfectly horrid. Especially since I'm so good with a schedule," Effie added.

"Hey, thanks for trying, Effie," Peeta said, joining them, Lily hanging on to his shoulder. "It's the thought that counts."

"Well, I suppose," Effie said quietly as they heard the front door open.

"Are we done here?" asked Haymitch, leaning over the counter top.

Katniss threw him a look as she ran a hand soothingly down Benjy's back and said, "You're released from your duties, Haymitch."

"That's what I thought when you were tributes," Haymitch said, looking from Peeta to Katniss. He straightened and said, "I'm heading home."

Effie smiled and said, "Thank you for letting us watch them. They were perfect. Though, Katniss, Benjy kept crying." Effie looked at him leaning against Katniss's shoulder, sleeping.

"I think he just needed his mother," Peeta said quietly.

Effie nodded and kissed them all on the cheek before she hurried after Haymitch. Just before she closed the door, she heard Lily call, "Night, Uncle Haymitch, Aunt Effie!"

Effie hurried as best as she could down the walk and to the gate. It was just a few yards down the road to their house, and she quickly caught up with Haymitch, who dearly needed a drink to make him less sluggish.

Falling into step with him, Effie said, "Lily said good night to us, Haymitch."

"Isn't that sweet," Haymitch said sarcastically as he opened the gate. Effie frowned at him as they walked up the walk to the dark front porch.

"You really are a gruff person, Haymitch!" she told him.

He shrugged as he pulled out his house keys. He inserted a key in the doorknob and turned to Effie. He looked annoyed, but he said, "That's why you like me. Eh, princess?"

He entered the house, leaving Effie sputtering on the front porch. That man!

She hurried in and turned on the light. He was in the kitchen as she said, trying to think of something that would make him feel the way he made her feel, "Well, Haymitch, you're good with children!"

"No, I'm not," Haymitch said quickly.

Effie smiled to herself as she said sweetly, "Yes you are."

"Am not!"

"You are too, and don't use such bad grammar."

"Effie . . ."

"Yes?"

"Be quiet."

Effie smirked, knowing she won. "Okay." It didn't matter. She was right.

She hurried off to her bedroom to take off her makeup. She smiled to herself and thought that the two of them had done quite a good job of babysitting their godchildren.

**There you go. I imagine Benjy to be about fifteen to seventeen months old. I hope you liked it, God bless!**


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